LIONS OF HEANOR REC ATHERSLEY'S NIGHT WITH 7 GOALS

HEANOR TOWN 7 V ATHERSLEY REC 0
NCEL PREMIER @ THE TOWN GROUND 21 APRIL 2015--7.45PM

HEANORS NATHAN BENGER [9] MAKES IT 2-0 WITH A  HEADER

Tonight's journey started with a trip on The Red Arrow to Ripley and it was good to see our captain for the journey being Barney long term and the only continuous driver of the 'Arrow' since it start.
This romp tonight from Heanor took their goal tally in the last two games to 15 without reply following Saturdays 8-0 victory at Glasshoughton.  They were two up here tonight in 4 minutes and five too the good just short of the half hour mark, the second half saw a further two goals added as Athersley left the field shell shocked.

THE TOWN GROUND ON A SUNNY EVENING

So the blog makes a midweek trip to Heanor and this one will be the last one for the season so following an early arrival and a chat with Press Officer Tony Squires and a quick greeting to Heanor frontman Nathan Benger it was time to move onto the snack bar for the famous chip cob with peas! 

PUT IT DOWN MICK[!] THAT ONES MY CHIP COB KINDLY PREPARED AND SERVED BY KIM

As ever they were a cracking effort served tonight by Kim and Jade with regular Dawn away from duties.  The ladies here are always friendly and as I think I may have mentioned before make a trip to the snack bar a must to sample the food on offer.  The ground has been described earlier in the season and nothing much has changed, following a walk round ending down the cricket pitch side we  devoured our food to arrive back at refreshment base for a drink to finish off our chip cobs.
The teams emerged with a crowd of 117 in place for this end of season fixture, Athersley in their superb dayglo tangerine shirts.  It was though just a shame their shorts and socks were in a darker orange I'm not sure what had gone off there if the whole kit had been the same colour as their shirts that would have been some sight.

HERE THEY COME

Heanor started powerfully and found themselves 2 up inside the first 4 minutes of proceedings Jay Cooper met Daniel Booth's cross with a powerful header.  More or less immediately Chris Shaw was the provider his delivery was met by a lovely cross goal header from Nathan Benger to double the lead.  Oliver Naylor then tested Aiden Tyas who was equal to his effort with a good save for a corner.  Heanor went three up when Nick Hall met Greg Marriots corner off the left with a powerful header.  We didn't have to wait long for the fourth goal Jay Coopers excellent assist had seen him hold up the ball well in the penalty box and then provide a superb lay off that set up for Oliver Naylor to fire home after 26 minutes.  Three minutes later Naylor had his second when he drove in Bengers head down to make it 5-0 and that's how we arrived at half time. 
The second half had started at a slower pace for the home side and maybe Athersley could force their way back into the game?  Well on 58 minutes that theory was put to rest when Adrian Hawes rose high on the edge of the 6 yard box to head home in a tight penalty area.  The best was saved until the last when an attack fell out of the box to Jason Gregory who from 30 yards out volleyed home an unstoppable shot into the bottom right hand corner of the goal, a late contender for the goal of the season list.
When the final whistle blew just after 9.30pm Heanor had secured a 7-0 victory in a performance that could never have been envisaged against a Athersley side who are normally strong opponents and must have been desperately disappointed with their showing tonight.  However for Heanor it was a tremendous performance for their highly supportive fans and the second game to feature a glut of goals for The Lions.
Usual return is by three buses with a couple of tight changes and when the bus from Heanor came in about 4 minutes late there was a few moments panic but Ripley was just made in time and then Alfreton for the final change gave us a steady ten minutes change time.
As usual an enjoyable evening in Heanor and a game with plenty of goals 7 tonight adding to the 6 in The FAW trophy final on Saturday keeping the blog well entertained.

RED ARROW ON THE FIRST LEG OF THE JOURNEY